In Memoriam: Tony Bechara, 1942 – 2025

23 April 2025

It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of Tony Bechara, on what would have been his 83rd birthday. He died peacefully in New York, the city where he lived and whose artistic landscape he helped to shape for over 60 years. As both artist and cultural ambassador, Bechara represented a perfect synthesis of creative and institutional leadership. Throughout his artistic career, he also championed other artists, advocating for overlooked talents, most notably Carmen Herrera and Leon Polk Smith. His warmth and generosity as a mentor and cultural philanthropist extend his legacy far beyond his own remarkable artistic practice.

Bechara served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of El Museo del Barrio for 15 years (2000-2015), and became Chairman Emeritus in 2016. As Chairman of the Board at El Museo del Barrio, Bechara played a pivotal leadership role in the institution’s transformation into a nationally and internationally recognized LatinX and Latin American art museum. He was still an active supporter of the institution, and his visionary contributions there will be remembered at their annual gala this June. He was also a valued trustee for Studio in a School, Instituto Cervantes, Brooklyn Rail and Brooklyn Academy of Museum: BAM, and was a benefactor of the Met Opera.

Tony Bechara was born in Puerto Rico in 1942. A graduate of Georgetown University, Bechara attended Georgetown Law School and New York University before later studying at the Sorbonne in Paris and the New York School of Visual Art. He settled in New York and developed his dynamic, color-saturated paintings over the following five decades.

Bechara’s unique approach to color theory incorporated influences across art history, including the palettes of Matisse and Vuillard, the pointillism of Seurat and Signac, traditions of weaving and crafting, the famed Byzantine-era mosaics at Ravenna, and the precision of hard-edge abstraction. These influences were evidenced in Bechara’s distinctive approach to painting: he used a tile-like grid as the basis for his explorations into the principles of color usage. His process, which he called “painting blind,” involved methodically taping sections of canvas while applying colors to create a playful and invigorating optical surface. In these works, a systemic approach allowed the colors to emerge by chance, fusing order and randomness.

In the 1970s and 80s, Bechara was included in exhibitions organized by the Boulder, Colorado-based Criss-Cross pattern printing collective and featured work in the group exhibition ‘Islamic Allusions’ at the Alternative Museum in New York. His work was included in the 1975 Biennial Exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. In 1980 he was granted a fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 1981 he was included in ‘The Shaped Field: Eccentric Formats’ at MoMA PS1 in New York. Bechara has had solo exhibitions at the Alternative Museum in 1988; Artists Space in New York in 1993; and Museo del Arte Puerto Rico in 2008. Recently, Bechara has participated in exhibitions including: ‘With Pleasure: Pattern and Decoration in American Art, 1972-1985; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA (2019), which travelled to the Hessel Museum of Art, CCS Bard, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA (2021); ‘Point of Departure: Abstraction 1958-Present’, Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, NE, USA (2021); ‘Artists Choose Parrish’, Parrish Art Museum, NY, USA (2023); ‘Spin a Yarn’, curated by Estrellita B. Brodsky, Another Space, NY, USA (2024), which travelled to Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY, USA and ‘Reconstructing Horizons’, Shijiazhuang Art Museum and Academy, Shijiazhuang, China (2025). Lisson Gallery was honored to announce representation of Bechara and present his first solo exhibition with the gallery in New York in January 2024.

His work can be found in numerous public and private collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA; El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY, USA; Museo del Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico; the Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska, Lincoln NE, USA; Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, USA; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. His work was also recently acquired by the Brooklyn Museum for their permanent collection.

Bechara’s legacy lives on through his vibrant art, which continues to challenge our perception and understanding of color, and through the institutions and artists he tirelessly supported throughout his remarkable life. A new publication, Tony Bechara: Annotations on Color Schemes was recently released, and a forthcoming monograph, published in conjunction with El Museo del Barrio, includes an interview with Bechara and Hans Ulrich Obrist, as well as a curatorial essay on his practice by Domitille d’Orgeval.

Alex Logsdail, CEO of Lisson Gallery:
“Tony was first and foremost a dear friend. He was a rare thing in a changing world: a gentleman. His support of other artists was tireless, his sense of civic duty much needed in a fast-moving city. He was a man that could always be counted on to do what he thought was ethically and morally right.

He leaves behind an incredible legacy both as an artist and as a philanthropist. His dedication can be seen in the many cultural endeavours he championed, especially as President of the board of El Museo del Barrio, which he served for over two decades.

I can say without a doubt that the life of everyone who knew him was richer for his friendship and compassion. He will be incredibly sorely missed. Abrazos, Tony.”